A PhD scholarship in mechanical engineering is available at Technical University of Denmark. This position is available for 3 years. The deadline to apply is November 05, 2018.

The research focus at the Section of Engineering Design and Product Development at DTU Mechanical Engineering is improvement in the efficiency and quality of product development processes as carried out in an industrial context. This is achieved through analysis of industrial development work and by developing and improving systematic methods that support design professionals and development groups. The research organized around four areas: conceptualization, product-service systems, robust design and platform-based product development.

The PhD Scholarship is related to the research area of platform-based product development.

Product configuration systems are knowledge-based IT systems, which assist companies in enabling their mass customisation strategies. These systems support the sales and engineering specification processes at companies, thereby benefiting companies by reducing quotation lead time, improving the quality of specifications and quotations, improving the quotation accuracy, improving the ability to capture customer requirements and improving on-time delivery. This PhD project will focus on the development, implementation and maintenance of these product configuration systems.

Responsibilities and tasks

The aim of the PhD project is to develop a set of approaches for supporting the management of product configuration system projects.

The project will primarily focus on the planning aspect of product configuration system projects. Often, companies implementing product configuration systems face budget and schedule overruns during the development phase of these systems, leading to the cancellation of the development projects. Therefore, there is a need for accurate estimation methods that can help companies in predicting the effort required to develop, maintain and extend these systems. The PhD candidate will have to identify the relevant factors which influence the effort estimation for product configuration system projects and use them to develop an effort estimation method.

Another area of focus for the PhD project will be the prioritisation of potential product configuration system projects. The ability to correctly prioritise these projects will help companies in fully realising the benefits from their investments in product configuration systems. The candidate will have to develop approaches to identify and prioritise the potential areas of configuration system implementation within a company's product portfolio. These approaches must focus on both the financial and non-financial factors which may influence such decisions.

Qualifications

Candidates should have a master’s degree in engineering or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to the master’s degree in engineering.

Approval and Enrolment

The scholarship for the PhD degree is subject to academic approval, and the candidate will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes at DTU. For information about our enrolment requirements and the general planning of the PhD study programme, please see the DTU PhD Guide.

Assessment

The assessment of the applicants will be made by Professor Niels Henrik Mortensen.

We offer

DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility.

Salary and appointment terms

The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. The allowance will be agreed upon with the relevant union. The period of employment is 3 years.

You can read more about career paths at DTU here.

Further information

Further information may be obtained from Niels Henrik Mortensen, tel.: +45 4525 6275.

You can read more about DTU Mechanical Engineering at www.mek.dtu.dk/english.

Application

Please submit your online application no later than 5 November 2018 (local time). Applications must be submitted as one PDF file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link “Apply online”, fill out the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one PDF file.

Candidates may apply prior to obtaining their master’s degree but cannot begin before having received it.

DTU Mechanical Engineering covers the fundamental engineering disciplines within Solid mechanics, Fluid mechanics, Coastal and Maritime Engineering, Energy systems and energy conversion, Materials and Surface Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Engineering design and Product development. The department has a scientific staff of about 150 persons, 95 PhD students and a technical/administrative support staff of about 80 persons.